Young Barley arrived here at his forever home Sunday and has some very big shoes to fill. Punkin spent time visiting seniors and earned his nickname of Lovebug. Barley is young, active, curious and has a lot to learn. But his arrival was not just anxiously awaited for by me, his Mom, but by his senior neighbors.

Hopefully here will be the story of Barley as he becomes the new Ambassador of Love.

His first morning he met 4 people. First up was his Auntie Shonda who adored him and quickly scooped him up for a cuddle. The same morning he met his neighbor across the hallway, my nurse and a Doctor. Still unsure of what all the new adventures were about he took them all in stride.

Today, day 2 of his busy new life, Barley made his first trip to visit a few people. Sitting in the carry basket all comfy in the blue cloud snug sack downstairs we went in the elevator. He was spotted at once and bravely stuck his head of of the snug sack for his ears to be rubbed. It was a quiet day in the lobby and he met just a few neighbors but seemed to enjoy the experience and even emerged from his snug sack to let them see all of him.

Judging from the way we was smiled at while being loved on this little guy will learn quickly. Visits are always carefully supervised. He will always be securely in his basket, snug sack, or wrapped in a towel for those most trusted to hold him independently. But that will be down the road.

It was indeed full of hay. He even managed to get the bag on top of his food bowl and then run into it. So the pig in the bag rolled off the bowl and I see little feet scrambling to get right side up again. After righting himself he turned around and gave me a look for laughing at him.

Barley has been very busy settling in and learning to eat his greens. He is doing so much better about being petted and stroked. His favorite is a gentle rub behind his ears. He is also warming up to his stuffed animal companion and figuring out how to snuggle up or on top of something so much bigger than he is.

Barley is really loving visits from his neighbors and lets many of them reach in and rub his ears with minimal chasing. He is brave and curious and enjoys sniffing each new person he meets. He needs a bit more work in the handling department before he does much visiting. He isn't going to be a therapy pet as such just a visit the neighbors in a senior housing guy who is taking the spot of a much loved part of building life.

Barley went visiting yesterday and his friends who saw him a few weeks ago can tell how much he is growing. He lay in the basket and let everyone pet him and was really good about it. He seemed to enjoy it a lot! And they adore him. His favorite is the rubs behind the ears. He also sniffed fingers and did a little bit of licking.